


karma's a bitch

by Internal_Nightmare



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: I did, Keith is torn, Keith's alone, M/M, anyways yeah enjoy this emotional torment, because lol who wants plot holes, he does, i rewatched so many episodes so many times, i was debating whether or not to put Thace & Keith, im trash I promise you, keith gets hurt a lot, keiths short, minor death just not keith, my smol bean doesnt want to kill, oh yeah there's Galra!Keith too, poor keithy baby suffers, smol bean keith, so there's that to look forward to, the paladins don't realize keiths with the galra
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 05:21:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10757559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Internal_Nightmare/pseuds/Internal_Nightmare
Summary: Keith wondered briefly if this was karma for suggesting they shouldn't rescue, Allura.





	1. Karma and Keith both start with K

**Author's Note:**

> The tags took so long to write holy duckerson mc quack
> 
> Anyways lol yeah comment kudo shmr im trash
> 
> This chapters a little short but hey if I get good feedback then I'll try my best to make them longer. Anyway yeah here you go

Keith wondered briefly if this was karma for suggesting they shouldn't rescue, Allura. Red Lion shuddered as she made contact with the surface of the ship, and with a low groan the lions lights flickered out, red, emergency ones lighting up behind him.

Oh _fuck_.

Keith's hands flew across the controls, a blank screen with nothing to look at but the chunks of upturned metal right in front of him. "No,no,no, _no_!  _C'mon_ , please, _work_. Get up, get up, _Red_ , get _up_."

There's a rattle from the side of the cockpit, and Keith's heart drops to his feet, thudding harder with each screech of tearing metal around him. Zarkon was breaking through the side of Red Lion.

Or more less, his sword was. Piercing through Red's jaw in the blink of an eye. The sword was thrust through the wall, and Keith's chair zipped backwards, the sword nicking the tips of his helmet. Static buzzed in his ears, the comms loud it seemed like screaming.

Keith's hands flew up, tugging it off in fast short breaths as the static grew louder and louder, creating such a fog in his mind that any thoughts he had went unnoticed.

Somewhere in the back of his stuttering mind, he wondered if Zarkon was going to live up to the threat of killing him. It went unnoticed though, because as he clawed his helmet off, sending it skittering forwards onto the floor in front of him, he knew Red would save him. Red always saved him.

But Red was unresponsive, and Keith was flung forwards out of his seat as Zarkon threw Red further away from where the Black Lion was _still supposed to be_ , and the control panel made quick work of his consciousness as his head slammed against it.

"Zarkon, sir," The Galra Emperor looked back towards the command centre near the edge of the ship. "Voltron has escaped."

The Emperor tensed, and turned his eyes towards the unresponsive Red Lion. "I wouldn't worry. Send a fleet to the west hull of the ships surface. I've secured the Red lion myself."

There was a long pause on the other line, but then a response. "Of course, sir. Right away."

 

  
The solar barrier had fallen mere moments earlier- Coran had watched it.

"Alright paladin's, it's time to get out of here." Allura's eyes narrowed, focused on the screen in front of her as the wormhole tore open its place in front of them.

But as they traveled through, the ship shook, the colour around them draining to red. If only they had noticed then, that there was a distinct lack of said red in the lions hangar.

" _Coran_ ," Shiro's voice was steady, beading through the comms. "What's happening?"

Up in the control room, the Alteans gripped onto the ship with white knuckled grip. "The integrity of the wormhole's been compromised! It's breaking down!"

The noise of the ship around them almost drowned out Lances shaky voice. "What the hell does that mean?!"

Coran looked up towards the screen, face blanched and eyes wide. "It means we have no control over where we're headed."

As if jinxing himself, the hangar door slid open, the wormhole flushing out the lions like bugs, and just like that, as the pieces of Voltron made contact with the side of the wormhole, they were gone, separated.

All left to fend for themselves.

 

 

  
Keith opened his eyes to bright lights, burning eyes, a throbbing head, and the voices.

"Sire," A woman's voice broke through first, gravely and worn. "Voltron is at its weakest point. I managed to corrupt the wormhole as they escaped. They should be scattered about the universe by now, and we have the Red lion in our possession."

"Thank you Haggar," Keith tensed, head tilting up. The voice belonged to _Zarkon_ , _himself_ , sitting unsuspecting on his thrown, a cloaked Galra directly to Keith's left, he assumed it was the woman who had been speaking. "Once again, you succeed expectations."

Keith's arm reached down for his bayard, but as he tried to pull his wrists apart, they snapped back together with a shriek of electricity. Both sets of eyes in the room flew towards him, and Keith's back straightened, eyes trained on the Emperor.

"You're awake," Zarkon's voice echoing throughout the room, and Keith tensed hands clenching from where they were retrained behind him. "I thought you'd like to be aware, that you're team left you behind."

As if striking a cord, Keith froze before forcing himself to relax. Or at least- to _look_ relaxed. Keith deserved that, and he knew it- he had been abandoned for the sake of Voltron just like he had suggested to the others earlier. It was only fair that he get a taste of the medicine he could have distributed.  
Though, knowing this made it hurt no less.

"You're silent," The Emperor observed. "Though I'm sure you won't be after a few rounds in the arena."

Keith knew those words, remembered them, from when they fought the Gladiator. Shiro had explained that he had fought the Gladiator once before- in the arena.

The arena that was created for the Empire's entertainment. And if Keith was participating in the arena... Well, Keith guessed, he'd get to experience first-hand how terrifying it was. His eyes narrowed up at Zarkon, and Haggar looked between them.

"Red paladin," She started, and Keith refused to meet her eyes. That lack of reaction itself seemed to be enough for her, and the Druid turned back towards Zarkon. "Sire, if I may, I'd like to proceed in an interrogation in preparation for our..." She casts Keith a sideways glance. " _plans_ , for Voltron."

"Of course, do to him as you please. As long as the information forwards the Empire." Zarkon lifts an arm, and Keith was flocked with Galra drones, gripping his already withheld arms with as much mercy as a programmed piece of equipment could have, the cloaked Galra druid following along behind him.

 

Keith was smart, contrary to popular belief (coughlancecough). He's observant enough to remember landmarks as he's led through countless halls and up flights of stairs. He knew he was headed _up_ somewhere on the ship, and catalogued every which way they turned as they walked towards the ship.

Eventually they slowed their walk, pulling him through a hallway charged with green lights instead of purple. There were iron doors, with see-through slits near the top (Keith realized that these were the _cells_ ), and they jolted him as they stopped in front of one.

An empty one- thank god.

The door opened, and he stumbled forwards, the cuffs still pulling his wrists tightly together behind him. He feels a palm flatten on the back of his neck, the one area that isn't covered by his armour, and as Keith pivoted his foot, and leans backwards to one-eighty and face the door, there's a flash of light, and instead of turning, Keith is falling forward against the metal wall of the cell, miraculously still upright as his vision swims.

"Curious," Keith hears, and then, he's jolted and turned around, his chest suddenly a bit lighter. He watches the cloaked Galran woman leave the room, Keith's red armour chest plate in hand.

 _Yep_ , Keith decides, sliding down the wall as the door slides down, isolating him from the rest of the ship. His vision tilts and there's a thud as his head makes contact with something cold and hard. _This was definitely karma_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith's about to learn more about why is hand turned purple at the space base and Shiro is thoroughly, utterly, fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeyyyy! Okay- yes yes I know, it's been quite a while since I updated.
> 
> I've been lacking in motivation to write more of this, despite the plot I already have planned out, and I think it was because of the pressure of school ending and all of my assignements that I needed to hand in before it did.
> 
> and well, if that was the case, then shout YAY because summer has arrived and I literally have no friends to hang out with and no job.
> 
> So, I'll be writing a lot more- look forward to that.
> 
> Anyways about this chapte; I wrote this a while ago, so the writing is a bit dated, and I wasn't able to portray the emotions I wanted to.
> 
> Basically this chapter is old and I struggled but I decided to post I anyways so I could give you guys something.
> 
> I'll try to write the third chapter quickly, and hopefully the quality will be better.

Keith's head hurt.  
Ached and pounded, his heartbeat thudding in his ears. The back of his neck cracked as he glanced around the room.

The room that wasn't his own.

Keith's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. He shot upwards, his head smacking into the wall. The hands that kept him sitting upwards, for however short it may have been, flew up to cradle his head.

He bent over forward, his forehead pressed against the floor in front of him. His eyes squeezed shut at the pain that pulsed through his scull and poked and prodded at every joint that moved.

He was sore all over, and he distinctly noticed the absence of his paladin armour that usually went over top of the black suit that now adorned his body.

A violent shudder ran through him, and he huffed, lifting his head and straightening out, ignoring the spin of the room that accompanied the movement.

The room was dark. Darker than Keith remembered. Not that he remembered much- a crash, deafeningly loud static, a verdict for his fate, and then...  
Keith's hands slid down from the side of his head, to run over the back of his neck.

And then, the Druid, Haggar, had shocked him from the back of his neck.

He frowned, pushing against certain areas, trying to feel for any pain, though there was none. He hummed, the first sound he made since he was thrown in with the sharks- or rather since he practically jumped in with them.

As if his voice was a cue, green light flickered on and poured through the glass slit in the door. A low hum filled the room, and Keith tensed, reaching down to grab his bayard—

He didn't have his paladin armour.   
He couldn't summon his bayard.

Suddenly, Keith felt exposed. Not vulnerable- never vulnerable. Never afraid.  
Just exposed, naked.

Looking down at himself, Keith winced. The paladin suit that went under the armour was black, with divots in the fabric that followed the curve of their stomach, back, and the sides of their legs, with Altean designs glowing in blue and pink on the shoulders, chest, and down the arms, looping around each finger. It looked a bit like Allura's suit, only with a distinct lack of colour.

Keith disliked it, usually, but right now, when his blood pumps in tune with the sudden footsteps of oncoming soldiers, he could never be more thankful for a familiar layer that covered his skin from everything around him.

He just hoped it wouldn't end up covered in his own blood.

The door to his cell slid open, and Keith didn't turn his head to look at who had fetched him for, what he assumed would be, his imminent death.

"Red paladin," The voice, Haggar, directed him. When he didn't turn his head towards her, he heard the Druid sigh. "Grab him. Bring him to the lab for interrogation."

Though he didn't react when armour footsteps grew louder and closer to him he flinched when they grabbed at his forearms, hoisting him to his feet effortlessly.

It was the 'effortlessly' part that became Keith's biggest concern as he was led out of his cell.

He kept track of the twists and turns of the corridors as he was lead, watching the lights change from green to purple to black, as think prison cells turned into heavy, locked, ones.

When the soldiers finally stopped in front of a room, and the doors slid open, that's when Keith stumbled over his steps.

The room was eerily purple, and there was a machine shining bright and empty on the far wall, empty black tables tilted forwards in front of it.

There were iron cuffs, for wrists and ankles, shoulders and hips.

  
He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry at he was dragged towards the closest table, Druids already standing in front of it, all of them identical.

He was strapped down, suited palms flat against the table, shoulders pressed down firmly. He was disabled, couldn't move away from the table.

Dread pooled in Keith's chest.

  
The soldiers were standing beside the door when it slid open, revealing Haggar along with another Druid. The ones standing in front of him straightened at the sight of them.

Haggar didn't meet his eye when she pointed at Keith, focused on the reaction of the Druid that came in with her.

"This was the same paladin that tried to steal the quintessence?" She asked, and Keith's head spun.

Did this mean he was going to be tortured before being killed? He wouldn't give away any information, so of course he would have to endure that anyways. Surely, they wouldn't let him out of this room unscathed.

"It is, Haggar." The Druid paused, black eyes blinking under the six slits in the mask. "You should know, when I attacked, it did not effect him as it should have. His flesh had turned...purple."

Keith stiffened, pressing further into the table, willing it to swallow him whole.

The witch merely waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, I'm well aware he isn't normal. The back of his neck is discoloured in a similar sense, now." She walked towards him, and Keith willed himself to relax, despite the sudden sinking realization that they couldn't wound him, just turn him the same shade of Galran purple as before. "It is rather odd, though. I used the same spell on another human, the Champion, and it had a startlingly different result."

The Druids stood off to the side, out of her way, and the one that came in with her, the one from the 'space base', tilted it's head. "What experiment are you going to preform on this one, Haggar?"

The witch in question smiled, iris-less eyes sinister. "Let's see how far we can go with this discolouration abnormality and decide from there," She turns towards the Druid.  
"Maybe this will turn out to be its own experiment itself."

___

 

He heard ringing first, his head throbbing when he woke up. It was uncharacteristically dark when he opened his eyes, and he sat up in slow movements, every bone in his body aching.

His leg shifted, and suddenly a shock of electricity bolted from his hip, sending his blood burning out over his open skin and soaking into his paladin armour. Shiro hissed at the reminder of the wound, and pressed his palm against it.

It wasn't a normal wound- which was really too bad. Shiro knew how to treat normal wounds, but Galran wounds? Well, he was pretty much clueless.

The black lion was clearly unresponsive, if the lack of reassuring purrs and the fact that not even the emergency lights were on were anything to go by.

Shiro sighed, a low sound from his nose, and he let his head fall back into the headrest of the chair. He didn't know if anyone else had landed near him, and really if he were alone here for too long...Shiro swallowed; he wasn't sure he would make it.

"Hello?" He started, pausing briefly in case anyone's voice came through. Instead, static fizzled back at him. "Come in, _anyone_."

Okay, no this was totally okay. Totally completely fine.

Good _God_ , Shiro was fucked.

"I should..." His breath hitched, the wound pulsing painfully. "Get to higher ground." He huffed, taking steps from the cockpit up and out of his lion, the comms merely feeding static back to him.

The terrain was jagged, but thankfully sooner rather than later, he found a trail of sorts, leading up and out of the ravine he seemed to have landed in.

His wound pulsed sharply whenever he walked, giving him a heavy limp as he trudged up the side of the ravine. "Hello?" He tried again. "Can anyone hear me?"

But no ones voice was fed back, only the sudden clearing of static letting Shiro know that the signal was a bit better.

Shiro paused, lungs heaving. He leaned against the wall of the ravine, sliding down slowly, his hand pressing harder against the wound in his side with each sharp jolt it shot through his body.

His head tilted to the side, his face tilted up towards the sky as he wondered about his teammates. He was sure he saw Lance and Hunk fall through together, and Shiro knew he heard Pidge's scream of terror right before the coms shuttered out.

But he noted briefly that he didn't see Red Lion. Maybe Keith was on the planet with him?

"Keith?" He asked, his breathing ragged and uneven. "You there?"

Shiro was, once again, greeted with silence. Though, not for long.

There was sudden scratching, something harsh and squealing like nails against metal. When he looked, he saw that it was exactly that.

Large, purple, predator like creatures were scratching at Black Lions surface. From this distance Shiro couldn't make out much, except that they were big, and searching for something.

Searching for _him_ , Shiro was sure.

"Crap," He muttered, hobbling up onto unsteady legs. He braced his hand against the wall behind him, shoulders hunched as he took steps backwards.

There's a growl behind him, low and threatening, that made him freeze in place.

This, needless to say, was not how Shiro pictured he would spend his day.


	3. Eripcino

 

Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days?

_Weeks_?

How long has he been here? His head lolling into his chest, letting himself sink in and out of darkness that keeps pulling him under, as if he was floating in quicksand. The back of his neck stings, whether from the spells or the strain of his muscles, Keith doesn't know. All he does know is that as soon as Hagar left him to the Druids, he had closed his eyes and prayed to whatever the fuck decided to put him in this situation to _get him out_.

Too bad he's pretty sure karma doesn't answer prayers.

His wrists ache, his hands too numb to move, but he can still feel the cold of the metal cuffs deep in his joints. It's not just his hands that are numb though; everywhere that had a direct contact with the metal, his feet, his torso, his hips. They faced the brunt of the electricity.

His brain feels like mush, and all of the noises around him that were dull but got sharper and sharper and sharper the more volts they sent under his skin, dyeing him purple as if they dumped him in boiling Koolaid, are muffled. Like balls of cotton were placed in his ears.

That reminds him of a time before the Garrison. He had worked in theatre and the band in the music pit had been so _loud_ , so the manager of the production had smiled at him and handed him earplugs and said—

"Red paladin."

No. That wasn't right.

Keith's eyebrows furrowed. What had she said to him again? Who was he thinking about? _What_ was he thinking about?

"We have scanners, paladin, your faking unconsciousness will not work. We are aware you are coherent. If you refuse to cooperate, you know well by now what will happen."

Faking? Faking what? Keith was faking something? Oh, right, he had been thinking about faking. Acting. Theatre.

Keith had never been an actor though- he had always been backstage, watching from behind the curtains. Why were they talking about him acting if he had been on stage?

 

What's that buzzing sound?

He feels his body seize up, ever nerve in him popping all at once digging deeper into his to find every single spot, burning a trail along his veins in their wake. His head goes from foggy to white noise in a matter of seconds, and suddenly he can feel every section that was numb. Everything alit and burning.

Then- just like that- it's over, and he feels like he's dunked straight back into the mud. He can't feel anymore, all he has to focus on his the single words crossing his mind, struggling to form a coherent sentence in his thoughts.

_How many_ , he wonders. _How many volts can a human take before they die?_

Something cold is pressing itself to his face. His mouth? Yes his mouth. Something cold, something very cold, was being pressed against his lips.

His jaw twitches, and Keith feels it clench. Everything still feels so numb.

The cold is pressed harder against his mouth.

He tries to speak, tries to get words out. He doesn't like the cold. Can they take the cold away?

All he manages to get out word wise is a huff of air, a week hum. He feels out of breath from a simple push of air, but he can't take time to steady himself- the cold is getting worse, but he's already frozen.

" _Nnm_..." Keith stops short, and sucks in a heavy breath. " _No_ ," he mumbles. It comes out more like a sigh, a breath pushed between cold, so so cold, lips, but Keith feels such relief to have said it, and to have _heard_ himself say it.

He hears a dark chuckle in front of him. Very close in front of him at that. It's scratchy and makes him think of the raccoons that once tried to claw his eyes out when he caught them trying to eat what little food he had. He feels just as tired as those raccoons looked.

Raccoons.

They had such tiny hands. And masks. Raccoon masks...like bandits.

He feels like giggling. _Bandits with tiny hands_. Keith once wanted to wear a mask too, once, to be a hero that cleansed the streets of evil, who could turn invisible and fly and burn things with his eyes.

Or was it lasers? To burn things with lasers? Lasers in his eyes? Laser eyes.

Keith wanted to laugh again- the only eyes he has now are tired ones.

"You will want to drink," the raccoon voice advices. "If you desire your strength back for tomorrow."

The cold is pressed harder against his mouth now, and there's something hot, burning even, gripping his chin, trying to pry his mouth open. Drink the cold? Is the cold a liquid? Like- liquid cold...and the raccoon voice wants him to drink it?

What's happening tomorrow? How far away even _is_ tomorrow? Hours?

How long as he been here?

Keith trusts raccoon voice though- they probably know more than him. He unclenches his jaw and fights back a wince as the cold slides into his mouth and down his throat.

He doesn't swallow, but he doesn't cough either, so maybe he is swallowing and just doesn't feel it.

His stomach feels cold now. So does his throat, and his mouth.

Keith doesn't like the cold.

The hot latch against his chin disappears, and the back of his neck throbs again as his chin makes contact with his collarbone. He hears footsteps.

Keith tries to open his eyes, to no avail. All he sees is black. Why can't he see? Is he blind? No, he's not blind, he's Keith.

He wants to laugh again, but doesn't. He concentrates on raccoon voice, because raccoon voice is speaking now.

Raccoon voice sounds mad.

" _What is wrong with you_?" Raccoon voice hisses. "You almost killed our only lead!" There's a pause, and then raccoon voice chuckles. "And a fellow Galra no less."

A fellow Galra? Was racoon voice Galra? Does that mean Keith can't call them raccoon voice anymore?

He mentally tsk's. 'Galran voice', just doesn't have the same ring to it.

Another voice, a new one this time, speaks up. It's gargle-y, and reminds Keith of when younger boys in the foster home would be bullied and how they would try to speak even when the older kids dunked their heads into the toilets and _flushed_.

What did they call it? A swirly.

"I apologize," Swirly, responds. "We forgot protocol and wanted to save this one, instead of leaving him to look like a pathetic _half breed_." Swirly spits out the last two words as if they were poison, and Keith feels a tingle go down his spin.

Were they talking about him? Keith tries to open his eyes again, but still all he sees is darkness. Why can't he open his eyes?

Can he even move? At the thought, he suddenly becomes so much more aware of the cold sloshing around in his stomach, coating his throat and every inch of his mouth.

What did raccoon voice make him swallow?

Raccoon voice scoffs. "He _is_ a half breed!" They seethe. "And you will see to it that he's returned to his cell quietly, which should be easy, now, with what you've done, without any spectators." There's more footsteps and then a quiet swishing. "I want Emperor Zarkon to be pleasantly surprised."

Keith may be confused, but he knows one thing for certain.

That Zarkon is going to be _pleasantly surprised_ , and that _Keith_ is going to be used to surprise him.

Karma really _is_ a bitch.

  
______

  
Keith couldn't see but he could feel.

He couldn't see when the cuffs released his wrists, his body, and he fell onto the ground, but he could feel it.

He couldn't see when he heard the echoing thunk of sentries footsteps, but he felt it when they grabbed ahold of his limp arms and hauled him to his feet.

And Keith still couldn't see when he was thrown into his cell, but he could feel the side of his body slam into the ground, and he could certainly curse about it. "Hey!" He screamed- or, tried to. His voice came out soft and raw and the cold in his throat sizzled with life.

It was cold.

It was so so cold.

It was cold and it was _spreading_.

His body seized up, his eyes finally flying open only to be met with eery purple light. The cold spread up from his throat to his ears, making them ring and _burn_ and yet still somehow get so cold he worried they would be able to break off like the snap of a match stick. His eyes stung from trying to adjust to the darkness and the sudden cold in his face that made it feel like ice was trying to layer over his entire body like the blurry film of an old movie.

It spreads to his chest, to his fingers, down his legs and to each of his toes. The sensation pierces his skin and into his bones as if he were being impaled by icicles. It's so horrifyingly cold, so suddenly, that it _scorches_.

It _burns_.

He's melting now, Keith is sure of it. He's shaking and freezing but hot and _god_ he can feel his heart in his throat and hear his blood in his ears and his tongue curls at the exploding taste of something warm and metallic in his mouth.

He coughs.

His eyes close.

His world goes dark.

______

  
Allura had piloted black.

Everyone is still in shock, sitting around Shiro's pod in the med bay, waiting for him to fall out of it and stumble into their awaiting gazes.

Something had happened on that planet.

Pidge had been caught up immediately when the castle ship finally found her; Coran's words speeding a mile a minute as he recounted how she saved their lives- and the lives of all the other Paladins- and once everything was said, they had found and retrieved the rest of the gang. Lance and Hunk had been first, the closest, and Keith's lion wasn't appearing on the scanner.

So they had gone after Shiro.

Pidge had given Allura a ride down to the planet in Green (The Princess had ordered it), and Allura had all but stumbled out Green's cockpit, even before the lions jaw touched the ground.

And then Black had saved Shiro.  
With Allura piloting her.

Pidge hadn't pressured for specifics, but when Allura flew Black back to the castle, Shiro in the cockpit with her, Allura had kept her comms suspiciously turned off.

Now, Allura was shaken- she didn't stay more than a few minutes in the med bay with all of the other healing pods.

So, to reiterate, something had happened.

And everyone was waiting for Shiro to wake up and explain.

They just didn't know just exactly _what_ they were waiting for him to explain.

What happened with Haggar?  
What happened with Allura?  
What happened _to_ Allura?

  
What happened to Keith?

______

_Maybe._

_Maybe this was for the best._

_Just maybe._

_The dagger glinted in his hands, and the stone, purple- just like his eyes- and glittering with the strange insignia burned its image into his mind._

_He knew what it meant. God- he didn't want to. He really didn't want to believe that that's what this meant._

_But he had seen the Galra insignia._   
_He had seen it and now he was seeing it again- it was worped and withered but there was no mistaking that it was from Galra origins._

_Because it was a letter._

_The shape carved into the stone was a Galra letter in their alphabet. One he had seen during one of the many times they'd invaded Galran bases._

_The letter had curves, and divots and spikes poking in and out of it._

_'Eripcino'_

_He didn't know what it meant, he was sure, but a deep pull in his gut whispered that he did._

'Deliverance.'

 


End file.
